People, Locations, Episodes

Marion Turner Stubbs, Civic Organizer born

*Marion Turner Stubbs Thomas, born on this date in 1910. She was a Black socialite and civic organizer.  From Philadelphia, PA., Marion Turner was the daughter of Dr. John Patrick Turner and Mrs. Marion Turner. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1930, attended the Sorbonne, and received a music degree from Zeckwer Hahn […]

Lawrence Reddick, Professor and Activist born

*Lawrence Reddick was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black historian, activist, and professor. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Lawrence Dunbar Reddick earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from Fisk University in 1933. In 1939, he married Ella Ruth Thomas and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago, where he […]

Bayard Rustin, Activist born

*On this date, in 1910, Bayard Rustin was born. He was an African American civil rights activist and principal organizer of the 1963 march on Washington.

Aggie Bernard, Labor Activist born

*Aggie Bernard was born on this date in 1910. She was an Afro Caribbean laundress and labor activist.  From Kingston, Jamaica, in May 1938, Aggie Bernard, only 28 years old and full of life, summed up the situation and decided to act. Bustamante, who had agreed to lead the workers, was arrested and jailed; soon, the strikers would […]

The National Urban League is Founded

This date marks the founding of the National Urban League (NUL) in 1911. The National Urban League is a nonprofit social service and civil rights organization with headquarters in New York City.

Von Mizell, Doctor born

*Von Mizell’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1910. He was a Black Physician and activist. Von Delaney Mizell was the son of Isadore S. and Minnie (Moore) Mizell, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta and became the second Black doctor in Broward County, Florida. He married Alpha […]

Esau Jenkins, Activist born

*Esau Jenkins was born on this date in 1910.  He was a Black businessman, preacher, and community organizer.   Jenkins grew up during Jim Crow segregation, when educational opportunities were not readily available. He was the only child of Peter Jenkins and Eva Campbell, from Johns Island, South Carolina. He was forced to end his […]

Govan Mbeki, South African Activist, and Politician born

*Govan Mbeki was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black South African politician, journalist, Communist, and activist. Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki, a member of the Xhosa ethnic group, was born in the Nqamakwe district of the Transkei region. He was the son of Chief Sikelewu Mbeki and Johanna Mahala and the father […]

Edwin C. Berry, Administrative Activist born

*Edwin Berry was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black administrative activist. In Oberlin, Ohio, he was born to John A. Berry, an attorney, and Kitty Berry, a homemaker. Edwin C. “Bill” Berry was one of five children. At the age of six, Berry’s father died. Kitty struggled to make ends meet, […]

Mildred Jeffery, Activist born

Mildred “Millie” McWilliams Jeffrey was born on this date in 1910. She was a White American civil rights, labor, and woman’s rights activist.

Mildred McWilliams, known as Millie, was born on Dec. 29, 1910, in Alton, Iowa, the eldest of seven children. Her grandmother, a widow, ran a farm and raised 16 children by herself. Her mother, Bertha McWilliams, who was the first woman to become a registered pharmacist in Iowa in 1908, owned a pharmacy in Alton and later in Minneapolis, and raised seven children on her own after her husband left the family.

Johnnie Carr, Nurse, and Activist born

*Johnnie Carr was born on this date in 1911. She was a Black Activist and nurse. From Alabama, Johnnie Rebecca Daniels was the daughter of parents John and Annie Richmond Daniels, the youngest of six children. When she was nine, her father died; following his death, the family moved away from their farm to the […]

Vivian ‘Buster’ Marshall, Administrator and Activist born

*Vivian ‘Buster’ Marshall was born on this date in 1911. She was a Black administrator and civil rights activist. Vivian Burey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vivian Burey grew up in a middle-class family; her parents, Christopher and Maud Burey, worked in catering in the city. She attended local schools. She met Thurgood Marshall at […]

Isaiah Newman, Activist, and Minister

Isaiah Newman was born on this date in 1911. He was an African American clergyman, civil rights leader.

The Phyllis Wheatley Association Begins

*The establishment of the Phyllis Wheatley Association (PWA) is celebrated on this date in 1911.  Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it began as the Working Girls Home Association.   Created in response to the Great Migration, the Phillis Wheatley Association set out to the house and help unmarried Black women and girls and newcomers to the […]

The Atlanta Neighborhood Union is Formed

*On this date in 1911, we celebrate the Atlanta Neighborhood Union (ANU) charter. This was a Black women-led neighborhood organization in Atlanta, Georgia. Started in 1908 and chartered in 1911, it was “a prototype for self-help and social service organizations.” ANU was one of the most important Black organizations in Atlanta’s social services, working in […]